Today's Opinions

The 2015 legislative session of the Kentucky General Assembly began “part two” of the 2015 session on Tuesday, which made for a busy week for legislators in Frankfort.

Continuing the goal of “creating Kentucky jobs and strengthening Kentucky families,” the Senate Majority Caucus wasted no time introducing our next five priority bills and giving them a first reading on the Senate floor Tuesday.

I am not sure where I found these, but I was entertained. Some people are kind, polite, and sweet-spirited, until you try to sit in their pews. Many folks want to serve God, but only as advisors. When you get to your wit’s end, you’ll find God lives there. People are funny; they want the front of the bus, the middle of the road, and the back of the church. Quit griping about your church; if it was perfect, you couldn’t belong. If the church wants a better pastor, it only needs to pray for the one it has. Coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous.

As I write this, there is a bill moving through the Kentucky Legislature concerning what is known as a “local option tax.” It would allow local governmental units, both cities and counties, to put the question of an increase in local sales tax for specific capital projects to a vote of the citizens.

The mayor of Louisville, Greg Fischer, has been a vocal proponent of such a tax and has been working hard to help push it through the legislature.

The 2015 legislative session of the Kentucky General Assembly began “part two” of the 2015 session on Tuesday, which made for a busy week for legislators in Frankfort.

Continuing the goal of “creating Kentucky jobs and strengthening Kentucky families,” the Senate Majority Caucus wasted no time introducing our next five priority bills and giving them a first reading on the Senate floor Tuesday.

This letter is concerning the so-called “right to work law.” Two weeks ago the Oldham County Fiscal Court was given a presentation by someone named Jim Waters who is the executive director of something called The Bluegrass Institute. There was an article in the Oldham Era covering this. I have several questions and concerns about this.

During one of his political campaigns, a delegation called on Theodore Roosevelt at his home in Oyster Bay, Long Island. The President met them with his coat off and his sleeves rolled up. “Ah, gentlemen,” he said, “come down to the barn and we will talk while I do some work.” At the barn, Roosevelt picked up a pitchfork and looked around for the hay. Then he called out, “John, where’s all the hay?”

Next week members of the Oldham County Board of Education and I will join hundreds of others for “Kids First,” an advocacy day in Frankfort. This annual event provides an opportunity for us to speak directly to legislators in face-to-face conversations about topics important to public education.

I look forward each year to learning from legislative leaders about proposed legislation and current issues facing education, and sharing our concerns and points of view with them.